thinking about meaties for Spring? answer some questions for me???

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I see the catalogs are rolling in from the Hatcherys. Good sign, winter is going to end shortly. Not sure about where I'm at because It's still pretty cold.

I always figure 2lbs or a little more of feed per 1 lb of chicken weight.(so a 5 lb chicken probably ate about 10+ lbs of food)
I'm sure they'd lay eggs,but not very well and to be honest never kept them long enough to find out.They won't give you back the same chicken hatched.(buy your chicks from a hatchery, breeders spent $$$$ to get the results. It would be hard to copy it in your backyard) They were developed to produce meat fast then to be processsed. Another reason why I love them. You may like to take your family on vacation,you won't spend all summer raising these. I know some people think it's cruel raising an animal that should be processed before reaching sexual maturity but to me that's one of the biggest reasons to choose them. Why would a chicken developed to be raised in a short time need to have a long life span.(no different than veal,beef cattle or pigs) They really are perfect for the person who is really raising chicken for eating. We like our chicken on the rotisserie,so we like them bigger than most. Some will argue that keeping a meatie longer than 8 weeks your wasteing feed. Maybe if you are selling for profit where every penny counts. But the way I see it, if feed costs $.16 per pound whats a few more lbs. of feed compared to a lb. of chicken. To save any more than that and you'd be eating the chicken feed instead.
Some will argue why would you need 8-10 lb birds? Well for us if we didn't we have to cook 3 @ 2-3lbs to get our dinner and our rotisserie won't hold three. I'd rather raise 25-30 meaties for 8 -10 weeks than 100 dual purpose which would take our summer away.
Your best bet is to try many and see what works for you the best. No two people are the same as far as taste and being practical. You can't compare chocolate and strawberry icecream and say which one is better flavor. It's no different with chicken. I will say they will taste different and have different texture(any older bird with be tougher,stringier and have different flavor) but figuring out which one you like can only be done by you. People can tell you what works for them,but can't tell you what works for you.
Hope you enjoy looking through the hatchery books as much as I do. let us know what you decide. Will

Will,

Ive decided to let you raise me some and process then give me a hollar and Ill pay you for my lack of headaches of trying this because Im so scared! LOL..teasing. Ill have to see whats out there I guess..I certainly dont want to get in over my head but I wanted to try 5-10 of these types of birds and see how they grow and eat and such...I have a hard enough time feeding my family the birds we raise-it freaks them out but I think If I can manage to raise our own and they taste wonderful I can change their minds! What type do you get? where do you process them? I have processed many chickens but only roos I dont needs and I only keep breasts and legs-for now
 
sonew123:

Your are on the correct path try starting with 10 or so. I would go with the cornish x. Figure on about 15 lbs of feed per bird or so to 8 weeks. So 150 to 175 total. Get a good broiler mix from a local feed mill 21 to 23 % protein.

I would build a simple tractor to house the birds- you can see most are the 2 foot tall kind. Meat birds do not need a roost.
Plan on moving every few days, so build it light.

These guys are eating machines and poo a lot. I agree the are smelly. They do grow fast and are (imo) better than store bought.

Give up on getting eggs to raise more. Just buy a new batch.
 
Well, if you get 10 you will be ok. Plan to lose 1 or 2, you may not but just plan on it just in case. That gives you about 8 birds to deal with come processing time. You can do it.


Things you will need that make your life much easier. Killing cones, Turkey Fryer kit, very sharp knives (not the steak knives or pairing knives), and a big cooler with lots of ice. Oh, and depending on how your friends and family do things.... *I have lots of free food and beer for the end*.... if that's what your friends and family like... then it's always a plus and it always brings them back!

The Turkey Fryer is great, especially if your only doing a few. I heat the water to about 145-150. Killings cones can be as simple as milk jugs or as fancy as stainless steel. If I was you, I would have Jaku make you a couple of cones... they are about half the price of regular ones. These two steps are the ones that are going to make your life easy.

You will have no problem hand plucking 8 birds, if a few of you are doing this... it should take no more than a couple of hours. That's four birds an hour... going slow. So have full faith you can do it.


I get the cornish crosses, for newbies... these are the way to go. They are short lived and they are mentally food..... right from the start. I wouldn't keep any for eggs... solely meat. These birds will be so big that you will eat everything, wings too. I would grow them out to be about 10-12 weeks that way you have some big chickens to process and that way 8 chickens will last you a long time.

7-9 lb dressed chickens are a lot of chicken.

Stick with 10, try them out... they will be a piece of cake. When are you looking at getting them?
 
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Ill have to see if anyone locally is getting some-Im sure there are people who are buying 100+ to cheapen the cost and splitting them up between people--At least I would hope and if not thats ok too..Ill deffintely do it sometime..But it may not be this Spring:-(
 
You can probably order as few as 6 from a local feed store. Often feed stores will order extras, too, so you don't have to order i nadvance if you're just getting a few so long as you show up at the feed store on the right day.
 
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not so much..We have 1 feed store that does chicks over an hour away-and I wont sit in line with those nut jobs looking for chicks only to be stepped on and treated rudely to get to them..Those people are crazy! Thats why I breed my own chickens now...I never knew people would hurt others just to get a few 2$ chicks--bruutal!!!
 
I have two girls and thought it was going to be a problem eating our chickens at first. We always have layers and we enjoy having them around they are more like pets with benefits. The cornish x are really just for what they were intended for,food and the kids know it and don't have a problem with that. They know that without livestock, eating would be pretty boring.

We have a couple places to process for us. A guy in VanEtten,NY and a family in Stevensville PA. They charge between $1.65-2.00 per bird. That's a 2 lb or 8 lb same price. They actually like the bigger Cornish x because they are easier to clean because of their large cavity allows to get their hands in better. One even bags and gives them to you frozen solid. Can't beat it really. We raise in batches of 25-50 so it works best for us. My GF in no way would help do the deed for what it costs us. I guess if you were processing 1-2 at a time doing them yourself would be best. These people have all the right equipment to get it done pretty quick.
With the cornish x we have very little waste. It's our dinner plus extra chicken for salad topers, sandwiches,soup and we even fight over who's going to break the wish bone.

I tried other breeds(dual purpose) at first and was just disappointed at the end. All the time and work put into them just for a 2-3 lb bird that was the size of a $4.95 grocery store rotisserie bird. I can eat one of those myself not to mention I have 3 more hungry women to feed. Once I did a batch of meaties, I knew this was best for us. We been doing it for 10 years.
My oldest is outgrowing it and really could care less about anything other than Hollister and Aeropostle clothes and minutes on her cell phone,but luckily for me my youngest still helps with the chickens. Will
 
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your 2 girls sound like my two--14 yr old hates chickens loves Aeropostle and Holister-youngest would rather lag behind and talk chickens with me all day:) DO you bring all the birds to the people? I gues if I have like 25-30 the trip might be worth it but It sounds like a 5-6 hour trip for me...Im still hunting for a processor in my neck of the woods..Havent found one within 3 hours driving time-thats a long drive when I can do soem birds one by one at home? Id love to just bring all my roos to one place in early Summer to get it all over with at once-Id do the odd and end roos that pop up...
 
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No nearby processor and only one feed store an hour away. These sound like business opportunities to me. Unless, of course, you live far away from civilization.
 
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No nearby processor and only one feed store an hour away. These sound like business opportunities to me. Unless, of course, you live far away from civilization.

Ok theres 1 feed store in town too but they dont count- they will not do any kind of live animals-I asked...and nope no processor-I have been looking since last year.. Since I couldnt find one I had FIL chop heads and I did the rest..Was easy peesy but I dont want to do 20 at once:-(
 

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